2015 Topps Archives Group Break: Box #4 (A 1:504 Hobby Packs Card Shows Up!)

Although I have spread out the 2015 Topps Archives box posts to only one per day, this is actually the fourth such post that I've written on Saturday, June 13.  It's my goal to get as many of the posts written ahead of time...so that I can get sorting while you are reading this post...and then get packing and mailing before box #10's contents are posted.

Will I be successful?  I don't yet but I'll give it my best shot!  Onward to box #4.

As usual, I'll begin with the Topps Game cards.

A triple and a hit-by-pitch...better than most of the options I guess (unless of course you are being beaned by a 100+ mph pitch - that's no fun for anyone).

Next, for the Twins - a buyback card of Rob Wilfong from 1979.

This card is one of the better conditioned buyback cards that we pulled - but again, who the heck is Rob Wilfong?  Has anyone ever pulled a good player as a stamped buyback card?  I know I haven't.

Box #4 produced a single silver parallel - but it's a nice one of David Ortiz.

I'm thinking metallattorney will be happy he jumped in for the Red Sox at the last moment.  The Ortiz is numbered 113/199.

For what it's worth, those silver parallels sure do remind me of the old Topps Bazooka sets...and because of that, they do feel a bit cheap, at least in my mind!  No matter though, the card design is topnotch here so I can't complain!

Speaking of not complaining, I love the Will Ferrell set...here's the Ferrell from box #4 for the Diamondbacks (again, metallattorney lands a cool card)!

The back of the card says:

"Hit it to Ferrell" seemed to be the theme.  In Will's one inning for Arizona, the Reds stretched two singles into doubles, and a two-bagger into a triple, at the expense of the "guest" left fielder.

That was about the end of the stuff that the Reds got right in 2015.

We have three cards remaining to show off from Box #4 - and we begin with the two autographs.

First up, a nice looking Frank Viola autograph for the Twins.  The Twins (and by extension The Underdog Card Collector) did pretty well in this box between the auto and the buyback!

The second autograph belongs to the Expos (jaybarkerfan) who nabbed this really nice looking Marquis Grissom auto.

For my money, I like the '89 design for autographs best in this set!

So what could possibly beat out the two autographs and be saved for last?

Oh, just a card seeded 1:504 hobby packs, no big deal.

This is a Ryan Braun #1 Draft Picks insert - Gold parallel edition.  It is numbered 24/50 on the back (as shown in the scan above).

Now, I have to be honest here.  Other than the rarity, this card is sort of weird in that I couldn't see what else made it a gold parallel.  I am pretty sure we pull the "regular" Braun card in a later box so I'll have to dig this card back out and scan the two fronts together at the same time.  For now though, I'll simply say a big congrats to jaybarkerfan who has the Brewers in the break...  This is a rare card for sure and a great way to end box #4.

And yes, the 1:504 pack card is still basically just a warm-up for what the remainder of the case will bring us!  Stay tuned!